In recent events, NASCAR has been receiving blows for slip-ups in a few areas. The Next Gen Cup car stands supreme on that list. Presenting passing difficulties and lack of maneuverability, most drivers have spoken against it. Then there are grainy FOX coverages and the glaring absence of pylons. But there was a time when more severe issues painted the motorsport.

That time was before 2018 when NASCAR suffered a downfall in fan attendance and TV ratings. After Bill France Senior founded the sport in 1949, it has mostly been under the beck and call of the France family. However, winds of change were needed, and current president Steve Phelps ushered them in.

NASCAR leader regrets the time he was crowned

Growing up in Burlington, Vermont, Steve Phelps attended races at the now-defunct Catamount Speedway with his father. This carved out his passion for the smell of burning rubber. Even though Phelps worked 14 years in the NFL and landed some of its biggest business partners, Phelps brought his marketing prowess to his old love, racing, when he joined NASCAR in 2004.

Phelps worked his way up the ladder in the motorsport. When he was appointed the president in 2018, Phelps found his mojo, as he recently spoke to Matt Doherty. “To me, becoming the President of NASCAR was something…One of the reasons I left NFL was I wanted to do more. I thought I could do more. And I thought, you know, when this transition was made and they appointed me the president of NASCAR, it was something that I really wanted. So I wasn’t afraid of it.

However, his transition to the Presidential role was difficult: it came about during NASCAR’s dark age. The stock car racing series faced an uphill climb in finding its place in modern American pop culture. As it lost relevance among fans, TV ratings and viewership plummeted.

So Steve Phelps uttered a four-word confession of regret: “The timing wasn’t great.” However, Phelps already had a few tricks up his sleeve to improve the situation, like rolling out the Next Gen car or revamping the race schedule. Hence, he acknowledged the opportunity he had to turn things around. “But I guess that’s a blessing as well, isn’t it? It’s like, ‘Hey, if it keeps on this slow-steady decline,’ well it wasn’t me, right?”

And Phelps’ efforts paid off in two years, as NASCAR’s viewership rates picked up momentum.

NASCAR scrambled out of its dark time under Phelps

When Steve Phelps took the keys to NASCAR’s leadership role, the sport was reeling under misfortune. Plummeting popularity was one, and then Brian France was arrested for driving into a stop sign while heavily intoxicated. However, Phelps and Jim France stopped the decline and prepared for a high-speed future in an ever-changing entertainment landscape.

The results began showing at the end of 2019. Phelps described a few of them in a 2020 interview: “Our attendance trends are all moving in the right direction. Ratings were up 5%, all sports were down 7%. We had significant momentum around the Next Gen car, our OEM partners are in a great place.” He added: We’re heading into the season with a brand new sponsorship model … were able to secure four premier partners and blue-chip companies.”

Yet even though Steve Phelps yanked NASCAR out of the unpopular phase, novel issues keep popping up that require attention.